by John F Kettley | Aug 12, 2026 | Exit Strategy, Leadership, SMEs
Business owners often ask me what they should be doing if they want to sell their business in the next couple of years. It’s a sensible question, but I don’t think it’s the right place to start.The businesses that achieve the strongest outcomes are very rarely...
by John F Kettley | Jul 22, 2026 | Exit Strategy
When business owners hear the phrase exit planning, the conversation often starts in the wrong place. People think about valuations, tax planning, legal documents and negotiations. Those are all important, but they come much later than most people realise. Long before...
by John F Kettley | Jul 6, 2026 | Leadership, SMEs
When I look at a business, I usually start with the owner. Not because the numbers don’t matter. They do. But the numbers are often the result of decisions that started much earlier. They show the effect. The owner usually shows the cause. How someone talks about...
by John F Kettley | May 6, 2026 | Exit Strategy, Leadership, SMEs
Most business failures do not begin with a lack of work. They begin with a lack of cash control. That distinction matters because it changes where owners need to look. A business can have a decent pipeline, good people and live sites, and still get into serious...
by John F Kettley | Apr 29, 2026 | Exit Strategy, Leadership
A lot of owners say the same thing with a kind of pride: the business needs me. Sometimes that is true. It is also usually a warning sign. In founder-led construction businesses, owner dependency often gets mistaken for strength. The owner knows every client, approves...
